Floor waxer with inertia actuated flow control valve



y 5 E. o. MILDEBRATH 16,5 3

FLOOR WAXER WITH INERTIA ACTUATED FLOW CONTROLVALVE Filed Nov. 19, 19463 FIGi W11 2 1111112.

' FIG. 3

M/Vf/V TOR OI Patented July 25,1950

UNITED srArEs PATENT ore-ro l:

FEOOR WITH IN-ERTIA ACTUATED- FLQW GONTROL VALVE Erich -..Mildebrath,Union City, N. J.

Application November 19, 1946; Serial No. 7105799 aolaims. (01. 15 131)My invention relates to floor. waxers; andpolishers and. thelike, andfprovides a novel means for automatically applying. liquid wax evenly ona surface such as a floor and polishing such surface.

Heretofore, to my knowledge, many attempts have been made to produce afloor waxerthat would apply and spread evenly liquid wax: on a planesurface but all of these prior. inventions depend on separatemanipulation. entire part; of the operator for insuring a. flow ofthewax. My invention, however, spreads the wax evenly by the customarymovementsnecessaryin the use of a waxer.

Another advantage of my invention isyanautomatic floor waxer wherein theflow of wax. onto the-floor surface may be accurately controlled, by theoperator so that either a large amount or a small amount of wax may be:dispensed. and; an:- plied as desiredor none, in. accordancewiththecondition of the surface to be worked on;

Another advantage of my invention is a floor waxer which is fullyautomatic in. action asa wax spreader but also may be used solely as afloor polisher when desired by means of. a. simple ad'- justment whichwill cut'. oif entirely the; flow of liquid wax to the floor surface.

Other objects and advantageswill beapparent from the followingspecificationzand the. accom panying drawings.

The improvements are illustrated in; the: accompanying drawings inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a waxer embodying the improvements with thetop of the waxer removed;

Fig. 2 is a vertical medial cross section of the waxer substantiallythrough section line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 isa vertical medial cross. section: of the waxer substantiallythrough section line 3--3- of Fig. 1'.

Referring to the drawings, l isa reservoir chamber for holding liquidwax or similar fluid and is filled. by means of a filler hole Z a in thetop cover 2 which is closed bytfilier cap-or plug 3. In the medial" partof the reservoir is a valve assembly for automatic control of" the flowof liquid wax. The valve assembly consists of a central tube 4whichis-press fitted into thedownwardly extending hollow post 5 of thereservoir at 50. so that the lower end of the tube Li fits over asmaller orifice 6 in the bottom portion 1 of the post. The valveassembly itself consists of the said tube 4 to which is secured a U-shaped fulcrum bracket 8'. Mounted on the bracket 8---by means of thepivot? pin 9 is the-balancevalve arm l0 which carries a counterweight i;I at its lower end. Fixed to the upper end of the balance arm at is. thevalve cap arm [2" which carries onthe end: covering the tube 4 a pieceof compressible material It for the purpose of making a liquidtight sealover the upper end of; the said' tube- 4. The reservoir is. closed bythe cover 2 which is tapped at its center,-. and this center tap carriesinserted therein a screw adjuster M threaded therein. which has itslower endterminating on the top. of the valve; closure armt2- above tube4. Screw adjuster f4 carries a: stop Hi; to.- prevent complete removal:of the screw from cover 2-.

The. bottom portion 7 has. at its rearavertical-ly disposed. plate 1 5-having; an orifice l 1 ..'providing means for attachment of a. waxerhandle. The part I is extended horizontally as shown at la to form abase to which is attached a waxing pad: mtwhichz'may be made of any"suitable material' and may be either: permanently or removably attached.The. part F also has. at its rear: a threadeddischarge stopper I19 forremoval; of: any excess wax; when the waxing job. is. finished.

In operation the; waxer reservoir I iszfilledwith liquid wax. throughthe fillen' opening: 2a by removal of the filler cap 3. The filler cap;3/isreplaced and the threaded adjustment knob. 20 is turnedcounterclockwise so that the lower end of the threaded. adjustment.plunger. i4: is raised above thevalve. arm? 12 to: such an. extent as togive the desired maximum flow. of wax. -The waxer is now pushed backwardandforward over thesurtace of thefioor to be waxed. As it; moves forwardunder. the: thrust of the operator-and: is checked or. stopped the:valve arm l2. due tothe forward momentum of and because it iscounterbalanced bytheweight i l, lifts off its seat-on the tubede thusallowing asmall amount of, liquid wax to: flow into thetube; t downthrough the; orifice 5 and'ontothe floor; Uponlthe return. stroke ofttheoperatorthe inertia of the weight M tendsto' open the'valve; but upon acheckingor cessation of this motion, the valve arm [2 once again closes.on the end, of the tube 4: preventing, any more fluid from descendingthrough the tube t and the orifice 6. These valve opening movementsshould preferably be short until the: desired amount of fluid has beendeposited on the floor; and canbe-varied in length and speed to regulatethat. supply aocuratel'y' at all times; It will be obvious-5.13116116-fore; that the. amount of liquid. flowing onto.- the floor will depend:uponthe size of; opening between: the tube t and the valvearm t2. andthe maximum of; this opening is determinedi'byr the ward strokes of thewaxer.

adjustment of the threaded plunger l4 with respect to the valve arm I2while within that maximum it is under the control of the operatorthrough manipulation of the waxer and its effect on the action of theweight I I and valve arms I and I2. When the floor has been sufilcientlycoated with fluid wax and it is desired to polish the floor, the screwadjustment of I4 is turned down so that the threaded adjustment plungercomes in contact with and presses against the valve arm I2 and preventsany opening movement. Thus the waxer may be now used as a polisher sinceany forward or backward movement will not open the valve assembly andtherefore no wax will flow onto the floor. The spreading of the wax onthe floor, however, may be accomplished by relatively slow evenmovements of the waxer thereover without positively closing the valveplug at I3.

In all the wax feeding movements the fluid in 'the reservoir has aneffect on the valve-operating parts, since it will never quite fill thereservoir and on the forward movement will tend to pile up at therearward side, over the arm I0, weight I I and rear end of arm I2, whileon the backward movement it will move in the opposite direction, thusaccelerating their action. It is at all times in contact with theseparts while at normal operating levels and therefore influences theiraction during normal waxing operation.

It will be seen from the foregoing description and the illustrativeembodiment shown in the drawing that the weight acts by its gravity andmomentum at the end or the retarding of the forward stroke to open thevalve by lifting the plug, while on the backward stroke it acts by itsinertia to open the same and at the end of or retarding of that strokeit acts by its gravity and momentum to close the plug. This peculiaraction of the valve assembly enables the operator to control accuratelythe flow of fluid to the floor automatically by control of the forwardand back- The details of construction of the embodiment shown anddescribed may, however, be varied within certain limits withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicatin between said chamber and member, a. valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending from said plug connected therewith, an armextending angularly from said first arm, connected therewith andpivotally mounted in spaced relation to the duct, a weight carried bysaid second arm on the side of its pivotal mounting opposite itsconnection with the first arm, said weight being movable by suddenlateral movements of the chamber to swing said arms and said plug toduct opening and closing positions.

2. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, aplanular fluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, aduct communicating between said chamber and member, a valve device forsaid duct in said chamber controlling the flow of fluid therefrom,comprising a valve plug for'opening and closing said duct, an armextendin angularly from said plug connected therewith, an arm extendingangularly and downwardly from said first arm connected therewith andpivotally mounted in 4 spaced relation to the duct, a weight carried bysaid second arm on the side of its pivotal mounting opposite and belowits connection with the first arm, said weight being movable by lateralmovements of the chamber to swing said arms and said plug to ductopening and closing positions.

3. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending from said plug connected therewith, an armextending angularly from said first arm connected therewith andpivotally mounted in spaced relation to the duct,

a weight carried by said second arm on the side of its pivotal mountingopposite its connection with the first arm, said weight being movable bysudden movements of the chamber'to swing said arms and said valve plugto duct opening and closing positions, said arms, plu and weight beingrigidly connected.

4. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending from said plug connected therewith, an armextending angularly from said first arm, connected therewith andpivotally mounted in spaced relation to the duct, a weight carried bysaid second arm on the side of its pivotal mounting opposite itsconnection with the first arm, said weight being movable by suddenlateral movements of the chamber to swing said arms and plug to ductopening and closing positions, said arms, plug and weight being rigidlyconnected and being normally immersed in the fluid in said chamber.

5. In a. device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending laterally from said plug and carrying thesame, an arm extending angularly from said first arm, rigidly connectedtherewith and pivotally mounted between its ends outside the duct toswing laterally in a vertical plane, a weight carried by said second armbelow its pivotal mounting, said weight being movable by changes in thehorizontal velocity of the chamber to swing said arms and said plug toduct opening and closing positions.

6. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extendin horizontally from said plug and carrying thesame, an arm extending angularly and horizontally from said first arm,rigidly connected therewith, a pivotal mounting for said second armbetween its ends in spaced relation to the duct, a weight carried bysaid second arm below its pivotal mounting, said weight being movable bychanges in the lateral movements of the chamber, perpendicular to theaxis of the arm pivot, to swing said arms and said plug on said pivotalmounting and raise and lower said plug to duct opening and closingpositions and said weight being positioned to normally close and holdclosed said plug.

7. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a, valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending from said plug and carrying it, an armextending downwardly from said first arm rigidly connected therewith, apivotal mounting for said second arm in spaced relation to the duct, aweight carried by said second arm below its pivotal mounting, saidweight being movable by changes in lateral movement of the chamber toswing said arms and said valve plug to duct opening and closingpositions, and an adjustable device mounted on said chamber movable tosecure said plug in closed position.

8. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, afiuid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug for opening and closingsaid duct, an arm extending from said plug and carrying it, an armextending downwardly from said first arm rigidly connected therewith, apivotal mountin for said second arm in spaced relation to the duct, aweight carried by said second arm below its pivotal mounting, saidweight being movable by changes in lateral movement of the chamber toswing said arms and said valve plug to duct opening and closingpositions, and an adjustable device mounted on said chamber movable tosecure said plug in closed position and also to permit but restrict theextent of its opening.

9. In a device of the character described, a fluid-holding chamber, a.fluid applying and distributing member below said chamber, a ductcommunicating between said chamber and member, a valve device for saidduct in said chamber, comprising a valve plug member for opening andclosing said duct, an arm extending laterally from said plug member andcarrying the same, an arm extending angularly and downwardly from saidfirst arm supporting and rigidly connected therewith, a pivotal mountingfor said second arm between its ends in spaced relation to the duct, onwhich it swings laterally in a vertical plane, a weight carried by saidsecond arm below its pivotal mounting, said weight being movable bysudden horizontal movements of the chamber to swing said arms and saidvalve plug to duct opening and closing and intermediate positions, the-construction and arrangement being such that on movement of the chamberover a floor in one direction and the retardin of said movement thevalve is opened by the m0- mentum of the weight and on movement inanother direction the valve is opened by the inertia of the weight andwhen that motion is retarded is closed by its momentum.

ERICH O. MILDEBRATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,783,773 Bilde Dec. 2, 19301,910,683 Ericson May 23, 1933 1,913,907 Turek June 13, 1933 2,281,135Becker Apr. 28, 1942

